This invention relates generally to an electrical termination device and, more particularly, to an insulation penetrating, solderless type termination device.
Crimping techniques are commonly utilized for securing contacts to insulated wires. In accordance with such techniques, the wire end must be stripped of its insulation covering and the contact barrel is then crimped onto the bare wire. Subsequently, the contact is inserted into a contact receiving cavity in a housing of an electrical connector. The contacts are usually individually removable from the contact receiving cavities so that a damaged contact may be replaced. The crimping of individual contacts is obviously time comsuming. Moreover, crimping generally cannot be performed on contacts which are already mounted in a connector housing since it is impractical to design crimping tools which are capable of crimping the end of the contact to a wire due to the common use of a large number of contacts with closely spaced centers. Thus, what is desired is a termination system which requires no crimping of contacts.
Termination techniques are known in the art in which conductors are connected to contacts without crimping. Such devices are normally referred to as "solderless" contacts. The following United States patents disclose various forms of solderless contacts: U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,012,219; 3,234,498; 3,617,983; 3,683,319; 3,718,888; 3,758,935; 3,760,335; and 3,761,886. Each of these patents discloses a plate-like section having a slot adapted to receive an insulated wire which is pushed into the slot at a right angle with respect to the plate.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,403,703 to Stinson, Jr., discloses a solderless contact of tubular configuration formed with opposed longitudinally extending slots which define conductor core and insulation severing jaws, respectively. In this contact, the insulated wire is pushed into the slots from the end of the contact at a right angle with respect to the axis of the tubular member. A special tool is disclosed to facilitate the insertion of the wire into the contact. The aforementioned copending application discloses a similar tubular contact in which the wire is inserted into the slots in the contact at an acute angle using the rear portion of the connector housing as a tool to accomplish the termination of the wire to the contact.
The present invention constitutes a modification of the termination arrangement disclosed in my copending application in that it does not require any form of a tool for terminating the wire to the termination device. The termination device requires little space, thereby permitting a multiplicity of such devices to be closely spaced on an insulator. The termination device is also characterized by simplicity and extremely low cost, and effects good mechanical and electrical integrity between the termination device and the wire terminated thereto without the requirement of stripping, crimping, or soldering.